Youth for Christ ministry in Belarus is still in the pioneer stage. This means key contacts have been identified, a ministry plan is in place and ministry has commenced. However a formal structure may not be finalized.
About Belarus
Belarus
Introduction
After seven decades as a constituent republic of the USSR, Belarus attained its independence in 1991. It has retained closer political and economic ties to Russia than any of the other former Soviet republics. Belarus and Russia signed a treaty on a two-state union on 8 December 1999 envisioning greater political and economic integration. Although Belarus agreed to a framework to carry out the accord, serious implementation has yet to take place. Since his election in July 1994 as the country's first president, Aleksandr LUKASHENKO has steadily consolidated his power through authoritarian means. Government restrictions on freedom of speech and the press, peaceful assembly, and religion remain in place.
Geography
Location
Location: Eastern Europe, east of Poland
Geographic Coordinates: 53 00 N, 28 00 E
Area
Total Area: 207,600 sq km Rank: 85
Land Area: 202,900 sq km
Water Area: 4,700 sq km
Comparison: slightly smaller than Kansas
Land Boundaries: 3,306 km
Bordering Countries: Latvia 171 km, Lithuania 680 km, Poland 605 km, Russia 959 km, Ukraine 891 km
Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)
Climate
cold winters, cool and moist summers; transitional between continental and maritime
Terrain
generally flat and contains much marshland
Elevations
Lowest Point: Nyoman River 90 m
Highest Point: Dzyarzhynskaya Hara 346 m
Natural Resources
timber, peat deposits, small quantities of oil and natural gas, granite, dolomitic limestone, marl, chalk, sand, gravel, clay
Land Use
Arable land: 26.77%
Permanent Crops: 0.6%
Other: 72.63% (2005)
Irrigated Land: 1,310 sq km (2003)
Renewable Water Resources: 58 cu km (1997)
Total Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural): 2.79 cu km/yr (23%/47%/30%)
Freshwater Withdrawal Per Capita: 286 cu m/yr (2000)
Environment
Natural Hazards: NA
Environmental Issues: soil pollution from pesticide use; southern part of the country contaminated with fallout from 1986 nuclear reactor accident at Chornobyl' in northern Ukraine
Environmental Agreements: Party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulfur 85, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
Geography Notes
landlocked; glacial scouring accounts for the flatness of Belarusian terrain and for its 11,000 lakes
People
Population: 9,648,533 (July 2010 est.) Rank: 86
Age Structure
0-14 years: 14.3% (male 707,550/female 667,560)
15-64 years: 71.3% (male 3,337,253/female 3,540,916)
65 years and over: 14.5% (male 446,746/female 948,508) (2010 est.)
Median Age: 35.8 years
Population Growth
Growth Rate: -0.378% (2010 est.) Rank: 223
Birth Rate: 9.71 births/1,000 population (2010 est.) Rank: 199
Death Rate: 13.86 deaths/1,000 population (July 2010 est.) Rank: 21
Net Migration Rate: 0.38 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2010 est.) Rank: 65
Urbanization
Urban Population: 73% of total population (2008)
Rate of Urbanization: 0% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)
Life and Death
Infant Mortality Rate: 6.43 deaths/1,000 live births Rank: 177
Life Expectancy at Birth: 70.63 years Rank: 141
Fertility Rate: 1.25 children born/woman (2010 est.) Rank: 214
Health and Disease
HIV/AIDS - Adult Prevalence Rate: 0.2% (2007 est.) Rank: 94
People living with HIV/AIDS: 13,000 (2007 est.) Rank: 91
HIV/AIDS Deaths: 1,100 (2007 est.) Rank: 69
Nationality and Culture
Noun: Belarusian(s)
Adjective: Belarusian
Ethnic Groups: Belarusian 81.2%, Russian 11.4%, Polish 3.9%, Ukrainian 2.4%, other 1.1% (1999 census)
Religion: Eastern Orthodox 80%, other (including Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and Muslim) 20% (1997 est.)
Languages: Belarusian (official) 36.7%, Russian (official) 62.8%, other 0.5% (includes small Polish- and Ukrainian-speaking minorities) (1999 census)
Education
Literacy (Meaning, age 15 and over can read and write): 99.6% Male: 99.8% Female: 99.4% (1999 census)
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education): 15 years Male: 14 years Female: 15 years (2006)
Education expenditures: 6.1% of GDP (2006) Rank: 39
Government
Country Name
Conventional Long Form: Republic of Belarus
Conventional Short Form: Belarus
Local Long Form: Respublika Byelarus'
Local Short Form: Byelarus'
Formerly: Belorussian (Byelorussian) Soviet Socialist Republic
Government Type: republic in name, although in fact a dictatorship
Capital: Minsk Geographic Coordinates: 53 54 N, 27 34 E
Administrative Divisions
6 provinces (voblastsi, singular - voblasts') and 1 municipality* (horad); Brest, Homyel' (Gomel), Horad Minsk* (Minsk City), Hrodna (Grodno), Mahilyow (Mogilev), Minsk, Vitsyebsk (Vitebsk)
Note: administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centers; Russian spelling provided for reference when different from Belarusian
Independence: 25 August 1991 (from the Soviet Union)
National holiday: Independence Day, 3 July (1944); note - 3 July 1944 was the date Minsk was liberated from German troops, 25 August 1991 was the date of independence from the Soviet Union
Constitution: 15 March 1994; revised by national referendum of 24 November 1996 giving the presidency greatly expanded powers and became effective 27 November 1996; revised again 17 October 2004 removing presidential term limits
Legal system: based on civil law system; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive Branch
Chief of State: President Aleksandr LUKASHENKO (since 20 July 1994)
Head of Government: Prime Minister Sergey SIDORSKIY (since 19 December 2003); First Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir SEMASHKO (since December 2003)
Cabinet: Council of Ministers
Elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; first election took place on 23 June and 10 July 1994; according to the 1994 constitution, the next election should have been held in 1999, however, Aleksandr LUKASHENKO extended his term to 2001 via a November 1996 referendum; subsequent election held on 9 September 2001; an October 2004 referendum ended presidential term limits and allowed the president to run in a third election, which was held on 19 March 2006; prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president
Election Results: Aleksandr LUKASHENKO reelected president; percent of vote - Aleksandr LUKASHENKO 82.6%, Aleksandr MILINKEVICH 6%, Aleksandr KOZULIN 2.3%; note - election marred by electoral fraud
Legislative Branch
bicameral National Assembly or Natsionalnoye Sobraniye consists of the Council of the Republic or Sovet Respubliki (64 seats; 56 members elected by regional and Minsk city councils and 8 members appointed by the president, to serve four-year terms) and the Chamber of Representatives or Palata Predstaviteley (110 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
Elections: Palata Predstaviteley - last held on 28 September 2008 (next to be held in the spring of 2012); international observers determined that despite minor improvements the election ultimately fell short of democratic standards; pro-LUKASHENKO candidates won every seat
Election Results: Sovet Respubliki - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NA; Palata Predstaviteley - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NA
Judicial branch
Supreme Court (judges are appointed by the president); Constitutional Court (half of the judges appointed by the president and half appointed by the Chamber of Representatives)
Politics
Political Parties and Leaders: Pro-government parties: Belarusian Agrarian Party or AP [Mikhail SHIMANSKY]; Belarusian Patriotic Movement (Belarusian Patriotic Party) or BPR [Nikolay ULAKHOVICH, chairman]; Communist Party of Belarus or KPB [Tatsyana HOLUBEVA]; Liberal Democratic Party or LDP [Sergey GAYDUKEVICH]; Republican Party of Labor and Justice [Vasiliy ZADNEPRYANYY] Opposition parties: Belarusian Christian Democracy Party [Pavel SEVERINETS] (unregistered); Belarusian Party of Communists or PKB [Sergey KALYAKIN]; Belarusian Party of Labor [Aleksandr BUKHVOSTOV] (unregistered); Belarusian Popular Front or BPF [Aleksey YANUKEVICH]; Belarusian Social-Democratic Hramada [Stanislav SHUSHKEVICH]; Belarusian Social Democratic Party Hramada or BSDPH [Anatoliy LEVKOVICH]; Belarusian Social Democratic Party Narodnaya Hramada [Nikolay STATKEVICH] (unregistered); Belarusian Women's Party Nadzeya ("Hope") [Yelena YESKOVA, chairperson]; Christian Conservative Party or BPF [Zyanon PAZNIAK]; Party of Freedom and Progress [Vladimir NOVOSYAD] (unregistered); United Civic Party or UCP [Anatoliy LEBEDKO]
Political Pressure Groups and Leaders: Assembly of Pro-Democratic NGOs (unregistered) [Sergey MATSKEVICH]; Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions [Aleksandr YAROSHUK]; Belarusian Association of Journalists [Zhana LITVINA]; Belarusian Helsinki Committee [Aleh HULAK]; Belarusian Independence Bloc (unregistered) and For Freedom movement [Aleksandr MILINKEVICH]; Belarusian Organization of Working Women [Irina ZHIKHAR]; BPF-Youth [Andrus KRECHKA]; Charter 97 (unregistered) [Andrey SANNIKOV]; Perspektiva small business association [Anatol SHUMCHENKO]; Nasha Vyasna (unregistered) ("Our Spring") human rights center; Women's Independent Democratic Movement [Ludmila PETINA]; Young Belarus (Malady Belarus) [Zmitser KASPYAROVICH]; Youth Front (Malady Front) [Zmitser DASHKEVICH]
International Organization Participation: BSEC (observer), CBSS (observer), CEI, CIS, CSTO, EAEC, EAPC, EBRD, FAO, GCTU, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NAM, NSG, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO (observer)
Flag Description: red horizontal band (top) and green horizontal band one-half the width of the red band; a white vertical stripe on the hoist side bears Belarusian national ornamentation in red; the red band color recalls past struggles from oppression, the green band represents hope and the many forests of the country
Economy
Economy Overview: Belarus has seen limited structural reform since 1995, when President LUKASHENKO launched the country on the path of "market socialism." In keeping with this policy, LUKASHENKO reimposed administrative controls over prices and currency exchange rates and expanded the state's right to intervene in the management of private enterprises. Since 2005, the government has re-nationalized a number of private companies. In addition, businesses have been subjected to pressure by central and local governments, including arbitrary changes in regulations, numerous rigorous inspections, retroactive application of new business regulations, and arrests of "disruptive" businessmen and factory owners. Continued state control over economic operations hampers market entry for businesses, both domestic and foreign. Government statistics indicate GDP growth was strong, reaching 10% in 2008, despite the roadblocks of a tough, centrally directed economy with a high rate of inflation. However, the global crisis pushed the country into recession in 2009, and GDP fell 0.2%. Slumping foreign demand hit the industrial sector hard. Minsk has depended on a standby-agreement with the IMF to assist with balance of payments shortfalls. In line with IMF conditions, in 2009, Belarus devalued the ruble more than 40% and tightened some fiscal and monetary policies. Nevertheless, Belarus missed its 2009 budget targets with a deficit of less than 1% of GDP. On 1 January 2010, Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus launched a customs union, with unified trade regulations and customs codes still under negotiation. In late January, Russia and Belarus amended their 2007 oil supply agreement. The new terms will raise prices for above quota purchases and increase Belarus' current account deficit.
Gross Domestic Product
GDP (purchasing power parity): $120.7 billion (2009 est.) Rank: 60
GDP - real growth rate: 0.2% (2009 est.) Rank: 108
GDP - per capita (PPP): $12,500 (2009 est.) Rank: 88
GDP - Composition by Sector: Agriculture: 9.2% Industry: 41.8% Services: 49% (2009 est.)
Labor Force
Labor Force: 5 million (2009) Rank: 73
Labor force - by occupation: Agriculture: 14% Industry: 34.7% Services: 51.3% (2003 est.)
Unemployment Rate: 1% (2009 est.)
Poverty
Population below poverty line: 27.1% (2003 est.)
Transnational Issues
International Disputes: Boundary demarcated with Latvia and Lithuania in 2006; 1997 boundary delimitation treaty with Ukraine remains unratified over unresolved financial claims, preventing demarcation and diminishing border security
